


Salt

by its-kylux-baby (skunk_ray)



Series: Lay Claim to your Prize [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: 17th Century, 18th Century, Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst, Awesome Phasma, Biting, Bottom Hux, Bruises, Colonialism, Consensual Mind Control, Dominant Kylo Ren, Force Control, Historical References, Hux is a total slut for Kylo Ren, Hux-centric, Kylo Ren has his shit together surprisingly well until he hasn't, Kylux - Freeform, Light Bondage, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Marking, Mind Manipulation, Oral Sex, Slavery, Top Ren, grotesque references to Star Wars and TFA, head-over-heels in love Kylux, phasma and hux are bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 11:00:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7046701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skunk_ray/pseuds/its-kylux-baby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1699 AD, nearing the turn of the century. General Hux of the First Trading Company brings relative peace to the East-Indian trading routes, until Hux is joined by Kylo Ren and his buccaneers who seem to be exceptionally trained to make the General’s life a nightmare. Yet, General Hux cannot help but fall for the enigmatic and unpredictable Kylo Ren, and soon the men have set up a carefully negotiated set of rules for their blossoming secret affair. Meanwhile, Supreme Commander Snoke is spinning his web around the General and the wind whispers of lost Skywalkers on an island not on any map.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stranded

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for not including Rey... yet! "Salt" will not be a retelling of The Force Awakens: But Then With Pirates, but a story on its own. It's intended to have a sequel but is a stand-alone work. I am currently (1st of July) working on the sequel that will be posted within a month or so :D
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: its-kylux-baby (Kylux) | petesy (main)  
> Art by the amazing Bachure: bachure.tumblr.com
> 
> Wine suggestion: tawny port. 
> 
> Enjoy! :)

Art by **Bachure** / http://bachure.tumblr.com

* * *

 

Hux held on to his ratty old wig the entire time it took for him and Kylo Ren to signal a ship to take them off the deserted island, miles away from the _Finalizer_ wreckage. The wig General Hux wore with pride underneath his feathered hat, the wig that Kylo Ren so literally ripped away from him to run his hands through his bright red hair. That wig - the final memorabilium of his old life, the rest of it sunk to the bottom of the South-Chinese ocean that now seemed calm and collected in a final mockery of Hux’ defeat.

Well, besides Hux’ material possessions and his pride, not everything that was his had sunk.

“Just throw it in the fire,” Kylo Ren panted, dehydrated and near delusion as he clutched his wounded shoulder. He’d been watching his beloved General - well, General of what now? for what felt like hours. Ren himself sat propped up against the only noteworthy palm tree on the tiny island, and Hux stood knee-deep into the ocean as if calling Poseidon himself to come fight him.

Hux did not respond, but was relieved Ren had not yet slipped away into unconsciousness. He’d done his best to tend to the wound, but Hux was no surgeon and did little beyond applying a ripped sleeve to keep the dirt out and the blood in.

Hux closed his tired eyes and eventually turned around, his feet numb and his muscles sore. He waded back to the kidney-shaped island and sat by the fire where his justaucorps and hat were now nearly dry. Only one of his boots made it out, but Hux was determined to keep it, just like his wig.

Only twelve hours ago, General Hux, leader of the military fleet of the grand First Trading Company stood at the helm of the FTC’s flagship, the man o’ war _Finalizer_. A hundred men in his crew and a hundred cannons in its belly, yet the most feared ship of the Oriental seas stood no chance against the countless small junks (1) operated by the pirates. General Hux single-handedly responsible for uniting all of Europe under his blood-stained trading flag, failed in fending off the attackers, the infiltrants lead by the traitor Finn - oh, he should’ve seen it coming when he accepted the contract last year.

Commander Snoke, old friend of Hux’ father, contacted him after another long period hidden in the shadows of regent chambers in a web of schemes and politics. For years Snoke had been pulling the strings of the largest naval victories and inked the quills of the most important politicians signing away trading monopolies to his small endeavour. England, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Savoy, Tuscany, Genoa and Venice - all hired ships from the ”First Trading Company” and their fearless, highly-trained crews to do dangerous spice and silk runs from Nassau to Kessel. Once Commander Snoke approached Brendol Hux, leader of the Commander’s Sailing Academy, to find fresh, intelligent men for a dangerous mission near the Portuguese coast, he found himself surprised that Brendol Hux was willing to send no other than his own and only son, seventeen at the time.

Young Hux made sure he’d disappoint no one by employing his boyish charm and stern but fair outlook on how one should order the world. Behind him, Commander Snoke always pulled the rights strings and put the right people in place for Hux to clear his way to whatever he needed to expand the FTC’s grip on the East-Indian trades. Soon, the First Trading Company had blossomed into an all-compassing cartel, importing mainly tobacco, silks and spices from the Orient. Hux moved on to Snoke’s private military fleet, to ensure the safety of the treasure-loaded trading ships.

Thirteen years later, the name of General Hux instilled fear in a great deal of East-Asian plaintiff owners, many of which were quite content with the security the FTC’s fleet provided in terms of trading. Pirate nests continued to thrive along the largest trading routes, offering a dangerous yet lucrative alternative for sailing within the FTC’s rigid _modus operandi_.  

Naturally, it was not only trade itself that interested Hux. Power over the plaintiffs and its people were essential to keeping the valuables these Oriental countries had to offer out of the hands of those cursed pirates. Hux could not imagine why even a handful of plaintiff owners still resisted the FTC cartel and their so-called “inflated” prices and “aggressive negotiation techniques”. Hux scoffed again, even now. No one could live off freedom alone, he’d say to Snoke and shared a good laugh. Now the General found himself quite literally stranded, he feared that his assumption would hold true.

“I’m serious, just throw the damn wig away,” Kylo Ren sighed, distracting Hux from his pondering. He tried to shuffle over to his General but was met with a sharp jolt of pain in his shoulder. Another scar, Hux thought meekly, another failure.

“It’s falling apart,” the gunner tried again, mostly to get at least _some_ reaction out of Hux who’d stood silently on that beach for hours. The General finally did respond by putting the wig back on his head, hiding his shoulder-length hair that Kylo Ren had urged him to grow out.

“It will fall apart when I tell it to fall apart,” Hux said sternly, well aware of the metaphor the wig was presenting here, and well aware that Kylo Ren too had a very hard time processing the events that had unfolded the night before. It was an elephant in the figurative room bigger than the island they resided on, and neither of the men seemed eager to cave first.

“Listen, Hux dear,” Kylo Ren moaned, flexing his fingers out of fear of them going numb,“I’ve been at this point before. Surely Commander Snoke will come get us in the _Abysmal_.”

“He will not,” Hux bit his lip, looking as if he wished to strangle Kylo Ren with the last bit of strength left in his arms, just so he wouldn’t have to admit what really happened on that ship.

“Commander Snoke always will,” Kylo Ren piped, but there it was again. The usual crack in his voice when he spoke about his master, his teacher, his mentor. It’d been there for a couple of weeks and now it was stronger than ever. Doubt. Hux was now certain Kylo knew.

“Commander Snoke will not come for us,” General Hux sighed, “because I killed him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) JUNK - Chinese sailing vessel with varying numbers of masts and whose sails are comprised of bamboo sail battens with a long overhanging counter. The English name comes from Malay dgong or jong, but is also known by the French word "Jonque". Junks were originally developed during the Han Dynasty (220 BCE-200 CE) and further evolved to represent one of the most successful ship types in history, and are still in use today.


	2. Beyond the Veil

The first time General Hux met Commander Snoke, he’d swear the man was already dead. 

The biggest secret of European politics was a pale, beardless man who kept to his ship or his carriage, seemingly never sleeping or eating in the presence of others. He did enjoy sharing his tobacco with whoever was important enough to meet him in person, and he carried very little tobacco. 

Hux’ share tasted surprisingly sweet today. His meetings with Commander Snoke were usually brief and to the point, and despite his superior’s reputation Hux always found him easy to work with. Not that he agreed with him on everything, but after a civil discussion they always came to see eye to eye. Yet, Hux felt he was always kept at the right distance - naturally, as Snoke had more enemies than a seasoned sailor had scars.

As General Hux lit himself a pipeful of Snoke’s expensive tobacco while seated in Commander Snoke’s hut aboard the corvette (2) _Abysmal_ , he found himself bold enough to ask: “what is the occasion of this meeting?”

Snoke gathered his paperwork and wax before making something that resembled a smile. “Discussing the upcoming Southeast Asia mission, of course.”

Hux noticed Snoke’s eyes had sunken especially deep into his frail head, supported by the wide lace collar the size of a dinner plate. “Forgive me, Commander,” he replied, “but this tobacco does not taste like another plaintiff meeting.”

From the depths, a small twinkle emerged. “Indeed… I do have something important to speak to you about, General.” 

“I am here, unaccompanied,” said Hux, “is it about a new cannon model we are to test in secret?”

“Not this time, General,” Snoke said after taking another puff from his pipe, watching the smoke dance around in the spring breeze let in from an open window. “I want you to meet my apprentice, General Hux. I ought it time he will join you on the upcoming South-Asia mission.”

“Your apprentice? Join me?” General Hux failed to hide some suspicion in his tone, wondering if he had disappointed his Commander in some way he deemed it necessary to set some sort of watchman over him. A watchman he was as of now, uninformed about.

Snoke, observant as always, easily put the pieces of the puzzle on Hux’ face together. “I do not question your loyalty, General Hux. You have risen far above mine and your father’s expectations. For that, I entrust you with facilitating my apprentice’s secret mission.”

“It will be an honour to accompany your apprentice, Commander Snoke.” Hux straightened both his back and his face. Secret missions were nothing new to the General, but they were usually carried out by Snoke’s privateers (3) or diplomats travelling in the cargo hold of Hux’ ships. Or could it be - ?

Snoke only grimaced as he saw Hux guess the nature of his apprentice, and as he raised his hand, the door to his personal chamber opened. A tall man stepped forward, clad entirely in black and the lower half of his face hidden from sight by a black veil sprouting from his head wrappings. From his belt hung a cherry wood flintlock pistol and from what Hux could tell a really old sword, unlike the modern curved blades outfitted to the FTC marines. 

General Hux immediately disliked this dramatic figure in his Oriental apparel. As Hux’s eyes flashed over the man’s face, he could vaguely make out the start of a scar atop of the man’s nose. A troublemaker, no doubt, here to mess with Hux’ supply lines and budgetary planning.

“General, I want you to meet my apprentice, Kylo Ren, captain of the Seven Buccaneers.”  

The two men shook hands while General Hux wondered if both men could tell he was seriously questioning the efficiency of a seven-headed crew of privateers. Yet, there had indeed been rumors about a hush-hush group of elites among the ranks of the First Trading Company, and they would certainly explain the convenient deaths and disappearances of the more inconvenient of Commander Snoke’s enemies.

General Hux’ suspicions were soon confirmed by Snoke. “Kylo Ren leads a team of six highly-trained buccaneers who have carried out various… diplomatic missions for me,” Commander Snoke clarified. “Hence they exist on neither paper nor in the back of my officers’ minds. I can only hope their existence stays within the realm of rumors and old wives’ tales, General.”

“Naturally, Commander,” Hux said, a hint of bitterness in his tone.

“They will carry out their usual tasks on the frontier of our expansion.” Snoke said, cracking his long white fingers while looking at his apprentice in a proud way Hux could only dream of being looked at. “You will sail the Southeast Asian route and turn as many plaintiff owners to the FTC as possible. I will remain here in London to finalize arrangements for the Macau treaty. Once Macau signs, we will be able to expand at a much faster rate and... finally deal with the South-Chinese pirates once and for all.”

Kylo Ren seemed to smile, and the corner of Hux’ mouth jerked.

“Who is captain of this endeavour?” Hux made sure to insinuate he hoped it was not this Kylo Ren, leader of the Seven Turban Sailors. Kylo Ren’s eye twitched. Perfect. The sooner people got used to Hux’ insinuations, the better. Out there on the sea, the General was no stranger to carrying out his verbalized threats, but on land he preferred to dance with words and deliver soft blows throughout all conversations with his inferiors.

“Captain Gwendoline Phasma, of the  _ Finalizer _ ,” Snoke answered, and started gathering his maps and important documents off his desk, “including the  _ Finalizer  _ itself, of course. Now, General, when you return to your quarters you will find the outline of the mission. The three of us and Captain Phasma will meet tomorrow to discuss the details. We sail in one month.”

Stern and short as usual, Snoke departed, only leaving the air of grandeur so common with men of his stature. The door failed to fall into its lock, and an early spring breeze playfully lifted the curtains and the hem of Hux’ coat.

The General wondered if he should do his usual routine with the man now or save it for when they’d sail out. Just a firm reassurance that on the deck of his ship, General Hux functioned as a direct extension of Commander Snoke’s wishes. On top of that, the General was absolutely not willing to endanger or discomfort his crew for the sake of accomodating some secret buccaneers. General Hux wouldn’t be the man he was rumoured to be if he let this previously non-existent lapdog steal the place he quite literally killed for.

Suddenly, the man spoke. His voice was deeper than Hux expected.

“I am not under your command. I serve Commander Snoke directly, so whatever authority you think you hold over me means nothing on deck.” Ren’s voice sounded muffled underneath his ridiculous attire, but his eyes - ! They burned with a fierceness Hux had seen with very few men. Very few surviving men, too.

Yet, the General had faced enough threats to not be shaken by another one. He pinched his eyes and said: “whatever mission you have, I will make sure it will not interfere with mine, or my crew’s welfare. I am sure you know about  _ my _ reputation -”

“Careful, General,” Kylo Ren said, casually unsheathing his sword and resting the tip against Hux’ collarbone. “I am no dancer with words. My sword is sharper than your tongue and I’ve been known to slip.”

“Your words, not mine,” Hux sighed, and took out his handkerchief to slowly push the tip of Ren’s sword off his so neatly ironed waistcoat.

“Are they now, General?” Kylo Ren sheathed his ratty old sword again, and made sure to bump into Hux on his way out the door. General Hux rolled his eyes. A real troublemaker indeed - and to think there were  _ seven  _ of these idiots -!

Hux made a mental note to add the appropriate amount of rum to the hold or this could prove to be a very, very long trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (2) CORVETTE - A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, smaller than a frigate. The role of the corvette consisted mostly of coastal patrol, fighting minor wars, supporting large fleets, or participating in show-the-flag missions.
> 
> (3) PRIVATEER - A privateer (sometimes called corsair or buccaneer) was a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign vessels during wartime, and take them as prizes. Commander Snoke has been employing various privateering crews to expand his fleet.


	3. Rough Tides

“I will make this short,” General Hux said, tugging at his decorated damask collar. His favorite red-on-black justaucorps was way too hot for this political nonsense, not to mention the itchy wig and the crimson feather hat, but Hux deemed both essential to reach maximum intimidation.

The three-masted frigate had embarked on a three-year mission around Southeast Asia to convince the plaintiff owners to sign away their produce in lucrative FTC contracts. This particular Brunei plaintiff owner had met with General Hux, Admiral Bridges and some fifteen marines in full outfit, pistol and short curved hanger blade. 

Usually, Admiral Bridges would have had no problem dealing with a meager tobacco planter like this. Yet, the plaintiff owner had already refused Admiral Bridges’ generous offers twice, even after dropping the shares from six to five. Thus, General Hux had to make the bothersome trip ashore to personally try and convince the owner once more.

General Hux strutted around the plaintiff owners’ workers and family members, all conveniently captured and chained up in the center of the courtyard. The trembling natives were surrounded by Hux’ marines, flintlocks loaded and off-hands resting on their blade hilts. Hux’ eyes focused on the rambling plaintiff owner for a moment, while his translator waited anxiously for the FTC’s next desperate step.

“You wouldn’t want to be at the mercy of the pirates, would you,” Hux signed, and smiled a little as he straightened his back even more. “ They have no respect for the trade. Who knows what they will pay you next year… Or decide to just _take_ it all. We will offer you a secure price and protection against those thieving criminals.”

The owner’s translator spoke up. “We will never become part of the FTC! We can manage our own trade just fine. We need no - “ he looks over at his owner, who nods at him to go ahead, “cocksucking arrogant foreigners who send us men in masks to frighten us as if we were some inbred tribe!”

Hux had to admit the man made a point. Kylo Ren and his cohorts had certainly caused some scenes along the watering holes on the Southeast Asian route. Even thinking about it gave General Hux a headache on top of the one the scorching sun gave him the moment he stepped ashore.

One of the marines, a black man named Finn, gazed upon the situation with obvious mixed feelings. He knew what the plaintiff owner had coming, and he was not looking forward to it. The last time they "convinced" anyone, children had died. He clutched his pistol tighter, arm trembling from being held up for minutes that seemed like hours. Working for the FTC was definitely not the idyllic tour one would expect from a perfect white beach and blue skies like these.

While the owner cursed at the General again in his native tongue, Hux decided he had enough of this. He already had a governor in mind for this place and schedules easy to accommodate to delivering fresh workers here. Maybe three time’s a charm, he thought.

“As you wish, Sir.” Hux sighed, uninterested in seeing the sight that would follow. “If you wish to oppose us, maybe it’s time for us to say goodbye now.” He donned his hat again and turned around.

“Kill them all.”

Like clockwork, the marines unleashed flintlock hell upon the workers while Admiral Bridges personally executed the plaintiff owner and his translator by sword, his preferred method as former FTC privateer. 

Only one marine lowered his pistol and shut his eyes to the slaughter that felt as barbaric as the FTC branded these peoples. Lucky for him, General Hux didn't even notice this insubordination. He left the scene with the smell of gunpowder in his nose and the screams of terrors in his ears. As he made his way back to the sloops, he smiled faintly, looking up at the perfect blue skies above him. His day was hard to ruin now.

~

“This won’t do, Captain.”

Back on the _Finalizer_ , Quartermaster Dopheld Mitaka stood by his cook who clutched his bleeding forearm - nothing life-threatening, but serious enough for Mitaka to confide in his captain.

“I understand,” Captain Phasma nodded. Just as Kylo Ren, she was an unusual sight among the broad marines and rugged crewmen aboard the _Finalizer_.

Gwendolin Phasma, daughter of the now retired Aloysius Phasma, one of the most respected captains the FTC ever knew. Phasma did not rely on her father’s good name even once, as she inherited his qualities to gain her the crew’s respect naturally, despite her being a woman. She was good to the crew as long as they were good to her, and rumors said she still walked her nightly rounds like she used to when still a quartermaster under then-Captain Bridges. And today, Captain Phasma again met with a clash between her crew and the Buccaneers. _Again_.

Captain Phasma looked over the men who gathered on the top deck. The sun was scorching hot, but from the corner of her eye Phasma could see a storm looming over the horizon. The South-Chinese weather had been threatening, but no serious storm had befallen them this month - yet. How telling of the situation on the _Finalizer_.

The quabbles started five minutes after the _Finalizer_ had set sail, when General Hux confided with his crew there would be seven more passengers. Seven highly trained buccaneers lead by the feared Kylo Ren, whose name was unknown to all of Hux’ crew but whose cruel portfolio quickly set the tone on the ship.

“Let me make one thing clear,” Ren had stated to a perplexed crew, who were unaware of extra passengers and concerned with their rum rations, “I am not the General’s bitch. My crew and I have our mission, and you have yours. For the sake of a pleasant journey, let’s try not to interfere.”

The General had been outraged with the lack of respect shown to him mere minutes after the start of their months-long journey, but there was little he could do as Kylo Ren had made it very clear he operated outside of the normal crew hierarchy by Commander Snoke’s personal wish. In other words, Ren might as well have slapped General Hux in the face.

The buccaneers busied themselves with secret meetings in the hold of the Finalizer or disappearing for days on end when restocking at a trading port. The seven masked men had cornered off a part of the crew’s cabins and hung up dark cloths behind which they whispered for hours, deep into the night, plotting and laughing while waking the other men repeatedly.

The crew did not take kindly to the loud buccaneers. During the three-month sea fare, there’d been disagreements, fights even when a buccaneer entitled himself to a larger piece of meat than he was rationed, or when not one but _two_ of the buccaneers turned out to be women, and a personal intervention by General Hux when a cocky crewman tried to unmask Kylo Ren and was thrown overboard.

In Captain Phasma’s opinion, the situation had escalated with today’s incident in the kitchens. Kylo Ren demanded a private rum stash for him and his buccaneers, and the cook had refused and thus been stabbed. Phasma did pity any fool who dared stand up to Kylo Ren, but frankly she had expected the cook to stand his own. Mr. Gibbs was a tall, fat man who could break a goat’s leg in half with ease, but not disarm a tall yet poorly-postured buccaneers. Nevertheless, this behaviour was inexcusable and demanded swift and severe actions.

“I swear, Capt’n, that man…” Mr. Gibbs swallowed his fear away. “That bucc’neer looked me in the eye and me knees went weak. I couldn’t think straight or defend meself. It’s like he went up in me head! Before I knew it I was sliced, I was..” He held up his wounded arm.

“I’ve heard these allegations before,” Mitaka confirmed, “these men - and on top of that _women_ , no offense Captain - possess some sort of dark magic. Even ol’ Gumbo, who hails from Nassau says he hasn’t seen something like this before!”

Phasma pinched her eyes. Ol’ Gumbo was the last person to be superstitious, but dark magic of all things? What had they been smoking?

“Have there been any other reports?” Captain Phasma asked, not immediately expressing her skepticism at these allegations.

“The men speak of feeling watched during their night rounds. Shadows coming and going as they please. Some men even say - “ Mitaka leaned closer and whispered, as if he himself thought these reports to bee too ridiculous to speak out loud, “- they _read their minds_. Either way, I feel like these buccaneers are toying with us, just because they can.”

”I will speak to the General about this,” Phasma said, patting Mr. Gibbs on the shoulder. The burly man looked visibly shaken by the ordeal and this time, her words seemed to offer him little consolidation.

“Thank you, Captain,” Mitaka sighed, “I’m afraid this too can be added to the seemingly endless lists of ‘incidents’ with these damn buccaneers…”

The men yelled loudly, clearly disappointed with the lack of repercussions taken against the rebelling buccaneers.

Captain Phasma knew Mitaka held back one incident he confided to her in private: when he found Kylo Ren enraged and shooting recklessly at the General’s door, completely destroying it, just because the General had disagreed with him on some unknown trivial point. Captain Phasma found it best to keep any incidents involving her General under covers, and paid the carpenter a hefty sum to repair the door in silence. If the General lost the crew’s support, a confrontation with the buccaneers would be inevitable and surely fatal.

“Mitaka, take Mr. Gibbs to the sick bay and do not leave his side,” Phasma ordered, and spoke to her crew in her stern but calming voice. It was time for a peace offering towards the crew.

“Men, we have sailed rougher seas than this,” Captain Phasma spoke in an inspired tone only rivalled by the General himself, “some under another flag of ours, some in the shackles of a slave trader. On this ship, the buccaneers do not command you. This crew will not let themselves be taken down by these vile, respectless buccaneers, no matter their special position with our mission’s founder!”

The crew stood silent, as always, enticed by her words, as always.

“Rest easy that your captain will look after your best interest, as you have always looked after the FTC’s interests,” Phasma smiled. “I will move these troublemakers to my personal quarters, far away from the crew’s chambers. I will share a cabin with Mr. Mitaka until the buccaneers are released from this ship. Will you accept this, men? ”

“Yes, Captain! Huzza, Captain Phasma!” the men cheered.

Mitaka tried to hide his blushing cheeks as he helped Mr. Gibbs to the sick bay, while three other men took it upon themselves to move Phasma’s stuff out. The captain overlooked the move brashly, and as the disgruntled buccaneers were nearly dragged from their hammocks she made sure to give them some well-deserved gazes. Today truly felt like a victory for Phasma’s crew - their day was hard to ruin now.


	4. Secrets

“You have absolutely _ruined_ my day, Hux!” Kylo Ren spat out, fists trembling as he’d rushed to the General’s office to inquire why his goons were relocated to the other end of the ship. It was nearing midnight, and the buccaneer had returned in a sloop alone, looking exhausted and slightly sun-burnt, yet again refused to share the details of his whereabouts during the day.

Hux had just sat down after a meeting with Phasma - coincidentally, about Kylo Ren. For what must be the hundredth time during the past seven months of the Southeast Asia endeavor, the man’s goons had caused immense troubles. General Hux was pleased with the way Captain Phasma handled the little escalation on deck - pleased, but not surprised. As a General, Hux concerned himself with the long-term plan of the endeavor, and apply his natural talent to appoint the right man, or woman, to the right place. Yet again Hux’ faith in his Captain was proven right, as were his doubts about Kylo Ren and the buccaneers.

After Phasma left, Hux had leaned back to overlook the fruits of his efforts - a large, perfectly cleaned office, something he was rumored to actually bother himself with instead of letting some swabbie touch his precious documents. There were a handful of stubborn rumors about the General’s nitpicking and obsessive double-checking of all the bookie’s numbers, but Hux brushed them off as drunken talk from men not used to someone higher in charge than their Phasma.

It seemed Kylo Ren was one of these men, yet not drunk. So far.

“Hux?” Kylo Ren growled, desperate to rouse the General. Ren stood there oozing that childish annoyance with his entire posture, fists and teeth both clenched.

“Why? You sleep in much better quarters now,” Hux noted, not looking up even once from the letter he was supposedly reading, “I will also remind you that it’s _General_ Hux to you.”

“Be happy I use your actual name and not one of the many creative insults my men have thought up,” Kylo Ren said while gritting his teeth.

“I’m surprised you find the time for what I assume is the most wonderful poetry,” Hux still didn’t look up from his documents although he’d read the same sentence five times now without absorbing anything. A letter from Snoke, delivered by a local boy as Hux boarded the sloop together with the Admiral earlier today.

“First, go fuck yourself,” the tall man’s eyes nearly spat fire, “second, you are well aware this is not about the quarters. May I remind you I have absolute authority from Snoke to carry out my mission on my terms? Do not boss me around _again_ , Hux.”

Hux slowly got up while folding his letter back into its envelope. To have his otherwise perfect day ruined by no other than _Kylo Ren_ -! Compared to the tall buccaneer, Hux’ rage burned at an ice cold level, and today Kylo Ren would get a taste of it.

“You sleep on _my_ ship,” the General started, “you eat _my_ crew’s food. You use _my_ resources and yet you lash out at _my_ men at will. I respect Commander Snoke’s decision to let you carry out your own mission, yet you refuse to even tell me how long you and your goons will be gone, forcing me to stay hours longer at ports than necessary. I don’t even know what you all look like with those ridiculous veils!”. Hux refused to take his eyes off the veil, as if the intensity of his gaze could somehow tear the damn thing off. “So, if I want to relocate you on my ship, _I will do as I please_.”

Hux’ fist hit the table loudly. For once, this shut Kylo Ren up completely. Hux felt pleased he finally got through to Kylo Ren, as he got through to every plaintiff owner in the same manner.

All of a sudden, Hux felt Kylo Ren reaching out for his fist on the table, twisting it upward and against Kylo Ren’s chest, nearly pulling Hux over his desk. He heard his ink bottle topple over and almost felt the carpet stain burning right in his soul.

Hux eyes widened in, yet he stayed focused enough to know not to resist physically against Kylo Ren of all people who had proven on more than one occasion to rip a man’s arm off if he pleased.

The General was pushed back in his chair with a power he’d seldom had to face due to his privileged position, and as he tried to reach for his boot dagger, Kylo Ren straddled him.

“Damn Hux,” Kylo Ren nearly gasped, “you are irresistible when mad.”

In a flash of pure outrage, General Hux struggled against his aggressor and clawed for the veil, that awful ratty cloth. Kylo Ren was not fast enough to stop him, and with a loud rip the entire headgear came off while the buccaneer growled in frustration. He tried to grab the cloth, thereby loosening his grip on Hux’ arm who took the opportunity to kick him in the abdomen with both boots. Kylo Ren toppled back and faced the General, now without the protection of his signature covers.

Kylo Ren - buccaneer, skilled interrogator, cruel torturer, whiny child when things didn’t go his way. In his head, Hux thought up at least five insulting nicknames for the man who made the past seven months of their joined mission a living hell, worsened by the whispers of the crew as they constantly berated each other in front of their very own men who were supposed to respect them.

Now that he looked upon Ren’s unusual features and dark burning eye, widened in surprise and offense, Hux wished he could say he hated Kylo Ren.

He didn’t.

He couldn’t. It’s not like he felt a spark between them - it was an entire pit of hellfire tearing open at him, and Ren sensed it immediately. As Hux felt into the depths of his inevitable attraction to the buccaneer, Ren lifted him from his seat and slammed Hux on his desk. The General could see Ren’s large, diagonal scar splitting his face in half up close. He vaguely remembered seeing it before, yet Ren gave him no time to ponder over all criminal sketches the General had seen. He kissed him, atop his perfect maps and letters and stamps organized alphabetically.

Before Hux could even form an opinion of this situation, and he took pride in always forming an opinion on anything, Hux found himself diving straight into Ren’s kiss. A salty, sloppy kiss with just the right amount of teeth grazing against his lower lip. It felt good.

Kylo Ren’s stupidly beautiful face grinned at him so wonderfully and menacingly Hux could not help himself. He started unbuttoning his waistcoat, ripping a couple of buttons on the way. What was he doing? Those were expensive pearl ones too and would take hours to sew back on. Now that he thought about it, the door was unlocked and anyone walking by would be able to see the two men, as Hux kept his office brightly lit with lanterns.

Kylo Ren seemed incredibly amused by it all, and ran his gloved hand along Hux’ white wig. “Stop it. I can nearly hear your thoughts out loud.”

Hux tore himself away from Ren’s eyes with great effort. After Phasma’s report, this playful tone incited worry in the General. Months ago, he would not believe such nonsense, but then in Snoke’s office, Ren seemed to peek into Hux’ mind too.

“I mean it,” came Ren’s final warning as he pinned Hux head back on the desk, “shut up and let yourself be fucked, for God’s sake.”

The sound of that alone made Hux’ semi a full-on hard one. He leaned back on his desk, pushing away any worry of maps and notes and letters underneath them. Within moments, he felt his head go light as Ren explored the sensitive parts of his neck and collarbones with surprisingly gentle kisses. A hand forced the General’s arm down, lower against Ren’s hip to feel him, feel his big and rock-hard cock.

As Ren bit down in Hux’ pale skin, the General could only moan loudly. The roughness of his own voice and the pleasure incited by the pain startled him, nearly offended him. He thought he had no need for this, yet his skin yearned to be touched.

Ren did not allow Hux to catch his breath. He tore at the man’s trousers and was pleasantly greeted by Hux’ cock jumping against his hand. Ren made an effort to run his gloved hand from Hux’ throat all the way down to his now exposed cock, making the hairs on Hux’ marble-white skin stand up. Hux felt slightly disappointed he in turn was not treated to the sight of Ren’s broad body but grasping at the straws Ren gave him nonetheless. Hux continued to stroke Ren’s cock through his black satin breeches, enjoying it way more than he should.

“Get up,” Ren commanded, pleased by how soon the General followed his command. He unbuttoned his own trousers to reveal what Hux already knew he so desperately wanted, _needed_. What Hux didn’t need was another command to firmly close his hands around Kylo Ren’s cock in a sudden bold moment. Ren in turn nearly tore off the General’s wig and raked a gloved hand through his bright red hair, pulling it painfully. Hux couldn’t care less right now. Hux could barely think straight as Kylo Ren’s other hand traced the round edge of his chin, cheek to cheek.

“You’re fucking gorgeous,” Ren hissed, enjoying the sight below and the friction of Hux’ hands around him. Hux didn’t dare answer after Ren told him to shut up, so instead pushed to stroke Ren harder, faster. He’d show the buccaneer that he wasn’t about to defile a virgin treasure here.

Hux skipped licking Ren’s shaft up and down teasingly. He straight up took Ren cock into his mouth fully, pleased by Ren’s surprised moan and tightening of his grip on Hux’ hair. He did however not skip the slow bobbing up and down, making sure to look up to the buccaneer with a piquant hint of ‘I could bite your cock off if I wanted to’. Ren seemed to enjoy it nonetheless, biting his lower lip as he guided Hux into the right rhythm, letting a couple of cheek-length strands of red hair slip between his fingers.

After mere minutes Ren decided to grip Hux tighter and take back control of his movements. He started thrusting in and out of Hux throat, noticing the General had a hard time keeping up yet took his cock even more greedily than before. Ren saw Hux’ green, tear-stained eyes practically begging him to cum in his mouth, yet Ren decided to not give him the pleasure. As he came growling the General’s name, he pulled back to finish on Hux’ chest and collarbone.

Kylo Ren slowly let go of him, seemingly proud of the mess he already made of his General. He moved his lips lower into the curve of Hux’ neck, to the spot he’d bitten him, and before the disheveled General realized what was going on he was left with a very painful and _very_ visible red mark.

Ren admired his work for a moment, then dressed himself and donned his veil again.

“Fool. I am a wanted man, General Hux, and the scar identifies me,” Ren entrusted him. “You keep my secret, and I keep yours.” He glanced down at Hux’s rock-hard cock and up again.

“Understood.” Hux fingered the sore purple spot in his neck as he watched Kylo Ren disappear into the shadows of the upper deck. He could still taste Ren’s cum in the back of his throat.

Hux took minutes to stumble back to his private quarters, his perfect posture bruised and blown apart by the hurricane Kylo Ren. The waves of pain almost felt like breaths of air to him as he nearly stumbled back into his quarters to pleasure himself at the thought of Kylo Ren atop of him. As he finished moaning Ren’s name, Hux knew it.

This man would be the end of him.


	5. Pearl Buttons

This passionate outburst was only one side of Kylo Ren’s temper. The other was on display right now, on the worst possible place on Earth to be confronted with one - the deserted island off the coast of Macau, one or two fingers before sunset.

“You _killed_ Commander Snoke?” Kylo Ren trembled with rage as he forced himself up from the palm tree, still clutching his wounded shoulder.

Former General Hux remembered how easily he adjusted to the moods of Kylo Ren, from his nearly violent moments of desire to that destructive fury. It came quite naturally to the General, having been around men of power and passion for all of his life, yet none quite as unpredictable and volatile as Kylo Ren. A storm of a man, one might say, and right now Kylo Ren was El Niño.

“Manslaughter is the technical term I believe,” Hux explained himself, and dodged the boot that Kylo Ren threw at his face after deciding words were not enough to express himself. “Although if we use reason here, dearest, we can place responsibility for his death in the hands of the pirates.”

“I don’t care about the pirates!” Ren yelled, face hot and eyes tearing up. “What the fuck are you saying, Hux? That Commander Snoke is dead? Out there on the bottom of the ocean next to everything - _everyone_ else?”

Hux swallowed and allowed himself to take his eyes off Ren, knowing the man was too weak to fight him right now, knowing that if Kylo Ren tryly wanted him dead, he'd be cold in the sand by now. From the pit of his stomach, a swallowing guilt erupted. Hux knew very well he did not only betray Kylo Ren, but the entire First Trading Company. Yet, as he dodged the second boot to the face, he firmly stood with his decision.

“You know it was you or him,” Hux tried again, yet Kylo Ren refused to calm down as he choked back the tears. “The explosions, the collapse of the mast…”

“I don’t want to hear another word from you,” Kylo Ren said and dropped down in the sand again, crawling back to his place below the palm tree. The fearsome buccaneer reduced to a wailing orphan, clawing at the sand beneath him. Yet he was alive. 

After watching this sad display, Hux propped Kylo Ren back up against the palm tree and gathered some more dried driftwood for the fire. Then, he stuck out his hand and measured the sun’s distance to the horizon. One finger until sunset.

Kylo Ren closed his eyes and stopped clutching his wounded shoulder. Hux made a mental note to change the bandages within the hour as the blood had started to crust up, yet he hated having to hurt Kylo Ren even more by cleaning the wound out again. As the dark-haired figured rested against the palm tree, Hux wondered how long they’d both known they would end up like this.   

Then the General broke the silence between them with a voice higher and lighter than he expected.

“Was it you who sewed the pearl buttons back on my coat?”

“I spend three hours searching for needle and thread,” Ren groaned, “and another one to sew those damn things on.”

Hux remembered nearly having a heart attack after finding his coat neatly folded on his desk atop of his papers, all buttons crudely sewn back. Yet, he spoke to no one of it, as Hux’ little escalation with the leader of the much-hated buccaneers would seriously undermine his authority on the ship, or - _God forbid_! with Commander Snoke!

Ren’s comment did not fully confirm his part in the button mystery, but at the moment Hux had other things on his mind.

Now that he thought back to their second meeting, Ren did glance over the pearl buttons before nearly tearing open Hux’ coat again in his quarters. The bruises of their earlier rendez-vous still lingered on Hux’ throat and thighs as the buccaneer took his rage-fueled passion out on his General.

The General stepped away before feeling the wall against his back. The _Finalizer_ had just set sail again, away from Brunei and onto Macau, one of the most important Chinese ports to restock and debrief with Commander Snoke.

As Kylo Ren ran his gloved hand across the General’s bare chest, he leaned forward and whispered: “did you enjoy our little meeting last night?”

Too proud to admit the raging erection Hux had the moment Kylo Ren had stepped into his office again, he adverted his eyes and did not respond. Ren’s hand lowered down to his hips to firmly grab his cock through his silk breeches. Hux could not suppress a soft moan, and the moment he met Ren’s brown eyes again he started feeling drowsy.

“You feel so much calmer inside,” Ren said approvingly, “now show me what you did to yourself after I left.”

Hux tried to shake off whatever voodoo trick Ren was pulling on him, as he was quite adequate to repress his own desires from himself. To no avail - before Hux could admit to himself that Phasma’s reports on the buccaneers was right, Ren pried the shameful thoughts out of him. Hux on his white sheets, stroking himself to the sound of himself moaning Ren’s name, coming for him, panting for him - Ren saw it all.

It was slightly unsettling to relive the memories of Hux pleasuring himself to the thought of Kylo Ren with the knowledge of Kylo Ren watching through some form of dark magic, and yet incredibly arousing. Hux closed his eyes and felt Ren leave his mind again.

“I had no idea I’d been so cruel,” the buccaneer smirked, and kissed the General again. This time, Hux came prepared for Ren’s shenanigans, and with a quick move he fished his dagger from his belt and pressed it against Ren’s neck.

“Listen to me very carefully,” Hux whispered against Ren’s lips. “You will not disclose our ‘little meetings’ with your buccaneers, nor my own men. You will not bruise me in the face, nor in the neck. Finally,” Hux pressed the flat edge of the blade harder against Ren’s neck, feeling his cock respond immediately, “you will make me cum every single time.”

“Fair enough,” Ren panted, clenching his fists and seemingly enjoying Hux’ threats. “These are reasonable terms.”

Hux could not suppress a sneer before taking the pressure of his dagger off of Kylo Ren’s throat. “You accept these terms so easily?”  

“Yes, _General_. You are a prize to me,” Kylo Ren whispered and lowered down onto his knees, pressing his lips against the bulge in Hux’ breeches. “I am good to my prizes.”

General Hux gasped for air when he first felt the cold air on his cock as his breeches were ripped open, and then Kylo Ren’s warm mouth around him, wet and tight. As Kylo Ren started bobbing up and down, eyes fiercely locked with his Generals’ Hux knew he would have no trouble fulfilling the third term of their agreement.


	6. Across the Boundaries

The journey from Brunei to Macau was anything but boring to the General. Between meetings with Admiral Bridges, Captain Phasma and the sailing master Thannisson, the General had oceans of time to fill - one of the downsides of commanding a perfectly capable set of captains and admirals.

Yet, this time the General had little to complain about as Ren seemed as determined as he was to continue their near-wordless pursuits of passion that would become a vital part of their days on the _Finalizer_. Ren showed an admirable devotion to their third term by leaving Hux into a whimpering mess on his desk, deep in the hold behind the barrels of clear water or in Phasma’s old quarters, now buccaneer territory. Ironically, Hux’ own bed had stayed off-limits so far.

The buccaneers themselves showed increasing boredom, irritation almost, as they could not slip away to do whatever they usually did when the _Finalizer_ laid ashore in a port. Moving them to Phasma’s quarters did limit the amount of confrontations to a minimum, yet the buccaneers always found another way to be up in the crew’s business. To Hux’ displeasure, Kylo Ren did next to nothing to keep them in line, something Hux silently felt owed after the trouble he went through to sate Kylo Ren’s sexual appetite.

After another escalation, General Hux called Kylo Ren into his office.  

“I cannot let this slide, Kylo Ren,” General Hux spoke firmly as he leaned forward in his chair. “You are utterly disruptive to this crew, this ship, and ultimately this mission. Your unhealthy obsession with rum deplete our stock and you give me no reason or excuse to - _for God’s sake!_ take off that ridiculous veil when your General speaks to you!”

Kylo Ren didn’t take his eyes off the General before slowly removing the cloth again. He was visibly agitated, but had to be held accountable for the chaos on deck.  

Hux continued, teeth clenched together. “How am I supposed to answer to the crew when all you gave me is ‘my mission is classified’?”

Ren nodded. “It _is_ classified. Big secret.”

“Big enough to warrant harassing my captain and my crew? Big enough to drive my own operations into ruin?” Hux was nearly foaming at the mouth while his trembling finger pointed to lists of numbers seemingly representing said ruin. “We’ve had to dip into not only next month’s budget for restocking and damage repair, but into September's’ too!”

“Write to Snoke, he’ll double the budget.”

“It’s not about the budget, really,” Hux sighed and sat back into his chair. “My men are losing respect for me. Captain Phasma is protective of my position, but you heard the quartermaster. They are fed up with you and your buccaneers, but more fed up with _me_ not doing anything about it.” He picked at the lace on his cuffs. “Or at least come with a proper explanation for your blatant misuse of our resources.”

“My dearest,” Kylo Ren purred, closing the distance between him and the General, “why not soothe your men with rum and whores as usual? I’m sure it will all blow over...”

Before Ren could offer reconciliation with the line of ‘and I’ll blow you,’ General Hux stood up to look the man straight in the eyes.

“You will tell me about your mission now or I will personally kick you off the ship at the first port in sight.” The General’s green eyes flashed, knowing Ren was not the only one who could give or take at will.

Ren seemed puzzled, hesitant - the man’s face was an open book without the protection of the veil. Hux had come to love it so dearly, not in the least for associating it with their private times together. Hux especially loved seeing his cock in that gorgeous face, but any sight of it delighted him.  

“You wouldn’t believe me,” Ren mumbled, and leaned on the desk while picking at his scar. Somehow the idea of Hux laughing in his face seemed worse than Snoke’s outrage for going against his orders to keep the mission an absolute secret from anyone but the buccaneers.

Hux gave him a reassuring look. “Let me be the judge of that.”

Ren’s eyes grew dark in the candlelight as he traced the map on Hux’ desk to England. Did he really want to pull Hux into his reckless adventure, or rather - did Ren really have a choice at this point?

“I am to retrieve Luke Skywalker,” Ren then said blankly, waiting for a sneering response. A mocking ‘Luke Skywalker!?’, a doubtful ‘he died during the Revolution of 1688’ or a classic ‘he sacrificed his ship in the most explosive way possible’. It never came.

Instead, Hux had folded his hands together and slowly tapped his chin with his left index finger. When Ren waited long enough for a reply, he took Hux’ silence as encouragement to tell the rest of the story - his story.

“You must remember the battle of Dover,” Ren said, “King William II of the Netherlands pushed for the throne of James II, already dismissed by his people. You will remember this as Commander Snoke’s final grand battle as General before recruiting you. The Revolution would have been a perfectly bloodless war were it not for one captain who persuaded James II to attack nonetheless.”

“Captain Luke Skywalker,” Hux confirmed, “he had an academy too. The only one that did not defect from England. That decision drove himself and his crew into ruin - wait. ”

Hux noticed Ren’s telling look, and after thirteen years of schemes and politics Hux didn’t need mind-reading powers to understand what was going on here. The veil. The scar. The talent for sword fighting, sailing and negotiation. It did not originate with Snoke, who was a brilliant strategist but no man of swords and guns.

“You are one of Skywalker’s boys,” Hux said, grinning ear to ear. What a wonderful turn of events that presented itself to him.

“I used to be,” Ren confessed, eyes cast to the ground in an uncharacteristic moment of vulnerability. “I fought at the battle of Dover before moving against him and blowing up Skywalker’s ship. I tried to convince him Snoke’s plan was the only plan, the only thing that makes sense in this wretched world of traitors and thieves. If he allowed his boys to Commander Snoke, they would achieve far greater things than under English command.”

“Skywalker had no children, but he did have a sister who was deeply involved with the English crown. She is rumored to have fled to the pirates after the Revolution. It should not be hard to track her down, instead.”

“I don’t _care_ about Skywalker’s sister,” Ren snapped, showing Hux he was to tread lightly around the subject. Hux could feel that Ren was letting him take multiple large steps over the line, but kept himself from lashing out. Hux found this strangely endearing.

Despite Ren’s clear declaration of his boundaries, Hux pushed for it again. “She would know where to find Luke Skywalker,” he reasoned, “why not put our - or rather, _my_ valuable time and money into capturing -”

“Enough!” Ren yelled, and visibly contained himself to not unsheath his sword. “This is my mission and I will lead as I see fit. You will keep your men out of my way and your prodding nose outside of my business.”

Ren’s sharp tongue felt like a kiss to Hux. He step closer to feel Ren’s repulsion, his seething anger almost physically tangible. Hux wondered what more it would take to really make the man go at him, if he swallowed all of Hux’ antagonizing up until now.

“Will you also tell me about the scar?” Hux whispered, eyes sparking devilishly.

“Goddamnit Hux,” Ren hissed, “can your boner get any bigger?”

As usual, the switch to passion came quick and scorching hot. Ren pushed him down on the desk, tugging at those thousand-times-repaired pearl buttons, before Hux stopped him with a firm hand around the wrist.

“Bed… lotion...,” he commanded, and Kylo Ren seemed quite receptive of the idea. As he pushed Hux to his bedroom, he made sure to keep his hands firmly behind this back, as if Hux was a prisoner ready for interrogation.

In a sense, what Kylo Ren did to Hux was a form of interrogation indeed - a rough exploration of all his weak spots, accurately responding to every moan or jerk of Hux’ cock. Kylo Ren kept out of Hux' head during their times together, yet he didn't need his powers to know Hux was tearing loose from the shame and self-hatred that tainted their first handful of meetings. It felt incredibly satisfying to be able to turn the stern General into a whimpering mess in his hands - and mouth. As Ren licked Hux up and down while holding his wrists down on the bed, he didn’t need to push him further as Hux grew impatient enough to tell him directly what he wanted.

“I need you inside me, Ren,” he panted, hoping Ren would feel generous enough to comply instead of teasing him as he usually did. For a moment, Hux seemed lucky as he soon felt a cold dab of lube up his ass. For a moment, though.

Hux moaned in slight pain once Ren pushed two fingers inside him, a cocky smile on his face. “You are not ready, not by far...” He pulled Hux up and in his lap, one hand reaching behind him to push further inside Hux and the other lodged firmly around his cock.

“I love to hurt you but not like that…” Ren whispered as he gently fingered Hux while moving his hand up and down slowly. Hux’ knees clamped up in pleasure as Ren continued to hit the right spot inside him.

“You’ll be ready for me in no time…”

Hux moaned and clawed at Ren’s back, nearly riding his fingers while thrusting harder into Ren’s hand. Ren took the hint by stroking Hux faster and harder until he felt Hux clench up around him. He came a lot harder than normally, including the one time Ren refused to stop blowing Hux on the brink of discovery deep in the ship’s hold. Kylo Ren would remember this. 

After they settled down on the cool white linens and the General caught his breath again, he said: “Fine. I will soothe the men with rum and whores, for now.”

Ren made an approving noise before unlocking himself from Hux’ embrace for the usual two minutes of afterplay he allowed his General.

Hux’ heart thumped loud and high in his chest as he watched the tall buccaneer refresh himself before leaving, and came to his senses again: I laid with a mad man! I laid with a man who’s convinced he can track down Captain Luke Skywalker!

The strangest thing of all was that he did not doubt Kylo Ren for one second, and it frightened him more than he dared to admit.


	7. Negotiations

Macau came too soon, but there it was - a peninsula on the southeast tip of the Chinese Empire brooding with activity. When Hux first set foot to the formerly most important trading post of the South-Chinese Sea, it was already in decline. The Portuguese, who had first colonized the port a century ago, were one of the very few parties to refuse cooperating with the FTC. Even General Hux failed to convince the Portuguese they absolutely needed protection on their most important trading route: Nagasaki-Macao-Malucca. If the FTC could even receive only one share of the profits gained from this route they would be able to nearly double their fleet.

After two years of failed negotiation, young Commander Snoke pulled a clever trick by sending deeply religious Portuguese Jesuits to Nagasaki. The Japanese shogun, deeply afraid of any religious influence from the West, immediately ceased trade relationships with the Portuguese, causing them to lose their most valuable trade: Chinese silk and Japanese silver. Commander Snoke started on the foundations of the FTC, and when Portugal again refused cooperation, Snoke struck another blow at Macau. On the other side of the trade route, Malucca was violently taken by the Dutch fleet with assistance of the FTC - Hux’ first actual battle, over fifteen years ago. Of course, the FTC reigned victorious.

Now, the pressure on Macau was finally showing. No longer the Golden Port in the South-Chinese Sea, the Chinese officials had become agitated with the current establishment. Commander Snoke had worked his magic behind the screens as usual, assassinating unwanted opponents and bribing the others. Snoke was confident that when General Hux came back with four-fifths of the Southeast Asian plaintiffs under allegiance with the FTC, the Chinese would crawl on their knees to grant Macau to FTC rule.

General Hux had no idea how high Commander Snoke’s ambitions rose, if he was so determined to capture Luke Skywalker. What role did he play in this seemingly simple plan to take control of Macau? Hux could only hope he might soon be trusted with the exact details of the mission, as Snoke’s refusal to do so had offended the General more than he liked to admit.

On this bright morning, Hux and Phasma sat on the bench near the windows on the back of Hux’ office, looking over the sight of Macau perfectly framed by the large viewport. Hours earlier Hux sat there too, alone, watching the sun rise as he smoked some of Ren’s tobacco as the tall man himself had fallen asleep in Hux’ armchair. During the last six days of the journey, the two men barely spoke at all. The buccaneers were, for once, behaving by locking themselves up in Phasma’s quarters to prepare what Hux guessed to be some kind of report to Commander Snoke. Whenever Kylo Ren sneaked into Hux’ rooms at night his eyes were red from the tobacco smoke and his touch coarse and aggravated. Hux barely slept, kept awake with a mix of extreme worry their affair might be found out, and excitement at the extra finger Kylo Ren was able to slip inside of in as he lay writhing in the sheets, mouth gagged with his most expensive handkerchief and hands bound with Ren’s veil. 

Too soon Phasma had bothered her General with stock lists and repair requests, but not soon enough to catch Kylo Ren leaving again, silently, as Hux pretended to be asleep in the windowsill. Yet Ren never really left, his taste lingering on Hux' tongue and his smell in Hux' sheets. The bruises and marks on his thighs were a promise he would come back for more, andven saying his name out loud ignited a crave that became louder and more selfish every time. Only now Hux understood those men saturated and delirious in the opium dens - Kylo Ren felt like an addiction .But what of it? If the men never found out, what should stop the General from taking exactly what he wanted?

“You seem to be lost in thoughts, General,” Phasma commented - Hux could excuse no one but her to speak freely.  

“I am puzzled, Captain,” Hux removed himself from the bench and seated himself at his mahogany desk. When he sat down, he felt the entire orchestra of bruises on his thighs, each of them stinging more lovingly than any kiss he’d had before. The General needed a moment to focus on the daily matters, then fixed his collar and entrusted Phasma: “I received a letter from a boy the moment we arrived at the docks. Commander Snoke is expecting us, and he will not be alone.”

“Who is he receiving, General? On of the Chinese officials?”

“I wish,” sighed Hux, and retrieved the letter from his secret desk drawer to illustrate his point. He made the same face he made earlier this week when captain’s dinner was served without sow-belly. “He does not disclose their name, yet he tells me to come alone, asks you to bring him a written report. This is very unlike him.”

Captain Phasma agreed. She was also one of the few to have tasted Snoke’s tobacco. “Very well, I will have his report ready by noon. General -” she saluted him, and made way for the door before the General stood up quickly, and with more pain than he expected, to stop her.

“I haven’t thanked you yet for giving up your quarters,” he said, back straight and face at rest. The Captain responded in the same manner. “I’m just doing my job, General,” she replied, “I am just happy quartermaster Mitaka doesn’t snore.”

The General laughed, a rare sight. “I know for a fact that _you_ do.”

“If Mitaka gets sick of me I know where to find you,” Phasma joked along, “it will be just like the good old days at the Academy.” She glanced down at his vest, noticing the crudely sewn buttons. “I can even sew those back on for you.”

Hux could only grin coldly as he watched her leave to the top deck, and promptly decided to wear his military uniform to the dinner with Snoke instead.

~

The Golden Deer Pavilion stood atop the row of hills on the eastern side of the Macau peninsula with a great view over the inner and outer harbor. Traditionally the only place where Chinese officials would meet Portuguese traders, it was now more or less Commander Snoke’s home away from home - unofficially, as nearly everything surrounding the enigmatic FTC leader.

The room was filled to the brim with cabinets and woodcuttings, yet felt completely empty. On one end of the low table sat Commander Snoke, deeply engrossed in a letter and only sticking up his hand to wave away the guard that let Hux in. The General knew to remain silent until the Commander acknowledged his presence, yet he kept an eye out for the company Commander Snoke was supposed to be in.

The only other people Hux saw at that moment were the servants bringing in a lavish evening meal. The banquet laid before them was nothing less than extravagant, with spiced pork and vegetable dishes as complex in taste as their names.

“Please, eat,” said Snoke hastily, and Hux hesitantly helped himself to the pork. Hux was not a man of exotic tastes beyond the bedroom, yet he enjoyed the welcome change in diet compared to seafaring foods. The pork tasted salty and gingerly, the rice was cooked perfectly, yet nothing about this meeting was about the food. Hux wasn't a rookie in the game of politics - the better the food and wine, the more important the sacrifices he was supposed to make for the FTC.  

“We will meet with the Deputy Commander shortly, General,” Commander Snoke spoke, not a man of greetings or petty inquiries about one’s personal life. The General had barely taken one bite of his food before Snoke wanted to speak business.

“Of course,” Hux straightened himself, “I am sure Deputy Commander Pava will be pleased with the progress we’re making along the Brunei coast.”

“That is not what today’s meeting is about,” Snoke said, suddenly casting his dark eyes up from his parchment. Of course it wasn't, Hux thought. Then, the heavily decorated doors to the hallway opened to reveal the Deputy Commander. He was a short man compared to the tall statue that was Commander Snoke, yet the lady at his arm was even more petite. The tight corset and lavish frills she was laced in placed a strong contrast against her Oriental features, yet she had the Deputy Commander’s eyes. Strong. Determined.

“Good evening Commander, General,” Pava boasted in his deep court business voice.

“Deputy Commander,” General Hux greeted him before standing up, watching his night and possibly rest of his life unravel before him as he put the pieces of the situation together. When he met the woman’s dark eyes, seething with hate and reluctance, he didn’t even need to hear Snoke’s words.

“I want you to meet your fiancée,” the Commander spoke, “Josephine Pava.”


	8. A Matter of Delicacy

The rest of the dinner was a buzz of political banter between old pals Pava and Snoke, and Hux didn’t even need to pay attention to guess the depth of Snoke’s scheme. Hux was engaged to marry none other than a Pava, a family with deep roots in the Chinese community of Macau. Of course, the engagement was part of an elaborate plan to allow Commander Snoke to place one of his own at Chinese court, and a General nonetheless. Snoke had assured him he could carry on with his missions as usual as long as he produced some children for Josephine’s father.  _ Children.  _ Hux swallowed. _ Intercourse.  _

He looked over at the tiny figure of Josephine Josephine nodded, curling a lock of black hair around her finger. She looked thoroughly bored with this arrangement dinner, as it wasn’t much else besides that. It wasn’t the exquisite food nor the ambience in general that displeased her. Hux was certain it was him, and he couldn’t say he didn’t feel the same about her. 

“Now,” Commander Snoke said, “before we move on to the financial details, I want to share -”

Suddenly, a messenger boy in orange brocade appeared carrying a sealed scroll. He spoke to Josephine in Mandarin with a tired voice, obviously having run for his life. General Snoke fell silent, raising where should have been his eyebrows at this sudden disruption of his dinner. Deputy Commander Pava only frowned in concern.

At first, Josephine looked puzzled as to why the boy allowed himself to barge in with this unexpected message, but as she unrolled the scroll she gasped. “Oh no...”

Hux instantly got up to add himself to her side, partly to peek at the message she was holding. The guards outside were specifically instructed by him to let no one inside, so why this boy?

“You must excuse me, good Sirs,” Josephine said, trembling from top to toe, “my handmaiden has been found beaten in the streets. I must tend to her at once.” 

“Josephine!” Deputy Commander Pava exclaimed in shock, and rushed to her side to help her in her overcoat. In the meantime, the boy vanished, leading Hux to believe the rumors about secret passages in the pavilion were true.

“This town can be so ruthless,” Hux cursed, “those damn pirates who sailed into this port to cause nothing but trouble… I will see they are taken care of.” 

“Thank you, General” Josephine smiled but her eyes showed a deep pool of grief before she cast them down, pulled up her hood and disappeared at the arm of her father beyond the guards in the hallway. 

As Hux returned to his seat, Snoke was studying the scroll Josephine left behind, tracing the Chinese characters with his thin white finger. Then, seemingly deciding the message that Josephine read was genuine, he rolled up the scroll again and stuck it deep into his own pockets. 

“Commander…?” 

“Tell me, General,” Commander Snoke said as he leaned back in his chair, “have you ever had a bad feeling about something?”

“All the time in the past eight months, Commander,” General Hux said honestly, relieved to take attention away from the heavy rock in his stomach called his upcoming engagement. Yet he didn’t see it necessary to hide his displeasure with the buccaneers.

“My buccaneers,” Snoke nodded. Hux noticed he had not touched his food in the slightest. 

“Finding a place for them has been challenging, both literally and figuratively,” Hux admitted. “My crew seems to have accepted them thanks to Captain Phasma-”

“Yes, yes,” Snoke waved General Hux’ diplomatic approach to the buccaneer situation away, “I am curious how the crew has responded to their… powers if you will.”

“Powers, Commander…?” 

Snoke leaned forward again, and suddenly appeared to leap the distance between them mentally. Hux felt slightly nauseous as the weight of Snoke’s presence pressing down on him, the same kind he felt around Kylo Ren once too often but far less enjoyable. 

“Don’t fool me, General,” Snoke said, his voice deep and enthralling, “my men have been exceptionally trained, raised from birth to utilize their powers. You must have been aware of them, from your own experiences or those of your crew, haven’t you?”

Hux had indeed experienced this kind of mind trick before, and even came to sightly enjoy it as long as it was Kylo Ren’s mind and not this heavy, brooding presence looming over him, nearly crushing Hux beneath it. 

“Have they told you anything, General?” Snoke whispered in his mind. “Or, as I would have expected from you, have you pried it out of them?”

General Hux eventually crumbled beneath Snoke, unable to resist his powers. “Y-Yes, Commander…” he panted, “Kylo Ren has told me about his mission to find Luke Skywalker who has been presumed dead for over a decade.”

“Has he now?” Snoke stroke his chin, his eyes sinking deeper into their sockets, “that is to say, slightly disappointing. You have not divulged this to anyone else, have you?”

“N-no, Commander,” Hux’ gloves dug deep into the table cloth as he tried to keep his head high, “please…” 

_ “ _ Good, good,” Snoke smiled, “you understand the matter is of utmost delicacy as we simply cannot let word of Luke Skywalker's existence, nor our search for him, become part of the daily gossip of ports like Macau.”

“I understand, Commander,” Hux sighed, feeling a splitting headache thumping behind his left eye. “But if I may ask, why? Why send your seven best men after a ghost, leaving me with little to nothing to answer to my crew?”

Snoke nearly jumped up and raised his hand to General Hux, who suddenly felt himself get lifted from his chair by an invisible hand. As he widened his eyes to this impossible act, General Snoke spoke to him low and clear. 

“My buccaneers and I are not the only ones to possess this power,” he said, “Kylo Ren has felt Skywalker’s presence in this world very clearly, and we want that presence gone.” As Snoke clenched his bony fingers to a fist, Hux felt a choking sensation around his neck. 

“Y-yes, Commander...” Hux’ eyes spat fire. He tried to struggle free, but Commander Snoke held him very tight.

“Listen, General…” Snoke resumed, “You have treated on territory beyond your scope or abilities, and I ask not of you to understand, only to follow. How you answer to your crew is something for you and Captain Phasma to solve. My sole interest is the eradication of Luke Skywalker by all means, and you will put nothing in the way of my men for them to accomplish their missions. That is an order.” 

Snoke finally released his grip on Hux mind, who fell back into his chair panting as if he’d run two miles in his formal heels. The Commander sat down again and took a sip from his grape wine, seemingly unaffected by the display of his powers. Before Hux could collect himself and wipe the sweat off his forehead, the door barged open again.

“For the love of -!” Hux yelled, agitated at another breach of his so-called perfect security. It was Captain Phasma, sweaty and red in the face having actually run two miles in formal heels.

“My deepest apologies, General, Commander,” Phasma panted, “but the buccaneers have taken a prisoner aboard the  _ Finalizer  _ and are torturing him as we speak!”


	9. Stained Embroidery

The buccaneers had tied their prize around the mizzen mast, the small mast near the Captain's quarters, and gathered around him. As soon as Hux set foot on the deck, followed by Captain Phasma and Commander Snoke, he instantly noticed they hadn’t touched the prisoner at all yet he was withering in pain.

“What is this tragic display on my ship?!” General Hux yelled. He knew Captain Phasma probably tried to reason with the buccaneers before collecting him and the Commander, so he did not expect much response from them. His expectations were met as the buccaneers continued to ignore their superiors, yet did greet Commander Snoke with an acknowledging nod.

Captain Phasma followed General Hux towards the prisoner to inspect him. Hux noticed to his outrage that the prisoner was bound with the same type of knot Kylo Ren practiced on him a couple of nights before. That would definitely leave a bruise.

The prisoner was a thirty-something tall, dark man with fierce brown eyes ready to stare down the entire seven of the buccaneers. His nose had bled judging from the crust forming on his upper lip, and his eye was bruised and swollen yet none of these wounds were recent. His orange brocade jacket was ruffled up, more in a display of power than anything else. Hux could only imagine the scene the buccaneers had caused in the streets of Macau.

“Are you the ringleader of these monkeys?” the prisoner panted as soon as he saw the General. “I have some peanuts in my pocket to help them stand down.”

The General only raised his eyebrows as the man beneath him continued to moan out in pain. Had he not seen Snoke’s sudden display of power, he would judge this man quite insane. Now, he saw the clutching fist of one of the buccaneers tremble before the prisoner and knew what was going on in this prisoner’s mind, only a tenfold worse. Hux was no stranger to torture, but something about these voodoo-esque practices deeply unsettled him. He looked over at Captain Phasma, who gathered the few men who stayed behind on the ship while the rest of the crew was certainly getting drunk and fucking whores by now.

Besides all that, Hux noticed the main part of this scheme was missing. Kylo fucking Ren. After the buccaneers and failed to answer to Hux’ demands, he turned to one of the crew members on guard duty who certainly saw .

“You there, Finn, isn’t it?” Hux asked, “where is Kylo Ren?”

“In your quarters, General,” the visibly shaken man replied, “he is out of his mind. He... tried to choke me.”

The General was not in the slightest surprised. “I will speak to him at once. Captain? Gather all men from the taverns and send them to their quarters. They need not be involved.”  
  
Captain Phasma seemed agitated. “And neither do we? What am I supposed to say to my men if you allow these buccaneers to continue their unauthorized business on my ship?”

“That is an order, Captain,” Hux said sternly, putting his foot down on the matter.

“Very well, sir.” Phasma’s mouth turned into a thin line as she commanded the crewmen to follow her into her quarters, while Hux found himself best needed at his own - to speak to Kylo Ren.

When Hux entered his quarters, he found the tall buccaneer unveiled and huddled over a container of fresh water, gently patting his pink nose with what seemed to be Hux’ most expensive embroided handkerchief.

“Explain yourself,” Hux said, not asking this time.

Kylo Ren replied in a nasal voice, keeping his bleeding nose pinched tight. “It was the first clean cloth I could find, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not talking about the handkerchief,” Hux gritted his teeth, “although while we’re on the subject I will be taking that one out of your share. What in the name of the seven seas happened out there?”

“That ‘out there’ is none less than Poe Dameron,” Kylo Ren replied, dropping the kerchief.

Hux’ green eyes widened. “ _That_ is Poe Dameron? One of the most prominent leaders of the pirates and brilliant navigator? He does not look like his sketches at all.”

“Indeed. Yet, he carries information vital to our search for Skywalker,” Kylo Ren said, pacing around nervously. Hux noticed he seemed far less sure of himself, less cocky even. “He possesses maps even the FTC has no access to. His knowledge of the seas and ties with Skywalker’s sister will lead us to Luke Skywalker, I am sure of it.”

“To be frank, dearest, I wouldn’t give a damn if it were King Willem II,” Hux sneered, “you are to report any prisoners or non-mission related torture sessions directly to me.”

“I have a report for you right here,” Kylo Ren said, cocking his head to the side. “September 29th, 1699. Hux goes to fuck himself.”

“And here you are, supposedly not a dancer with words…” Hux remarked, stepping into Kylo Ren’s personal space, “your words, not mine.”

Ren’s eyebrow twitched, and before Hux could taunt him any further he felt a familiar hand on his throat, pushing him against the wall behind him.

“Listen to me, General,” Ren hissed, eyes flashing and teeth clenched, “you do not outrank me. You do not control me. If you want an obedient little toy I suggest quartermaster Mitaka.”

Ren had a point there, Hux thought while feeling fainter and fainter underneath Ren’s glove.

“I see that Commander Snoke also reminded you to not stand in my way,” Ren seethed.

Anyone that thought the General was a cold and collected person failed to see the tremendous amount of restraint he put on himself. Hux resisted the urge to scream at him, to blame him for the rock in his stomach and the knots in his heart. Hux placed a surprisingly strong hand on Ren’s wrist, urging him to lower his pressure to allow him to speak. Ren reluctantly let go, yet his anger hadn’t fully burned up yet

“Commander Snoke is on the _Finalizer_ right now, with your other buccaneers,” the General said, adjusting his collar, “he is displeased you shared your mission objective with me.”

“Don’t turn this around,” Kylo Ren snapped, “I shared this with _you_ in confidence. If you cannot be trusted to keep this information from -”

“From whom, exactly?” The General’s tone was ice cold as he desperately tried to deny the fact that Ren had hurt him by not caring about what Snoke had done to him. “From the other buccaneers? From Commander Snoke? Have you seen what he is capable of?”

“Don’t tell me what Snoke is or isn’t capable of,” Ren breathed, and stomped out the door as he had done so many times before. It startled the few men who were still on deck - as Hux followed in Ren’s determined footsteps he wondered why Captain Phasma had not urged them to go below deck.

Commander Snoke said nothing when he saw his most promising pupil arrive at the mast on the quarterdeck, and neither did Kylo Ren. He simply nodded at his men, and before giving his prisoner any time to catch a breath he held up his hand in the same fashion as Commander Snoke had done.

Poe Dameron withered again in pain, and hissed: “you will not… get away this…”

“Silence,” Kylo Ren spoke in his deep voice, and even Hux could feel the influence of his powers were thick and present in the evening sky. He stood besides Commander Snoke in a silent witness of what he could only describe as a cult gathering. The hidden faces of the buccaneers were all focused intensely on the prisoner, with Kylo Ren as tallest of them in the middle, right hand held up high in the air.

Kylo Ren fanned his fingers out and stepped closer to Poe, then clutched them again slightly. Poe jolted his head back, clearly resisting Ren’s mind reading as he had done with the other buccaneers before him.

“Why resist at all?” Kylo Ren said calmly, “You know I can take whatever I want. Spare yourself this pain, Poe Dameron. _Where is Captain Skywalker_?”

Behind Hux, a couple of his crewmen gasped. Skywalker? _The_ Skywalker? Damn it all! What was holding up Captain Phasma?

Poe shook his head. “You know I don’t know that… Quit this charade!”

Kylo Ren pushed for it again, now with all his might, and as Poe Dameron cried and whimpered beneath him a smile appeared on Kylo Ren’s face.

“There is a map, isn’t there…? Kylo Ren only laughed arrogantly. “A map in an emerald pouch around your parrot’s neck, send back to your base. How poetic.”

“We will arrange a search party in Macau immediately,” Commander Snoke said, pleased with Kylo Ren’s result. As the tall buccaneer loosened his grip on Poe Dameron and begun walking back to Hux’ quarters, seemingly uninterested in participating in the search party.

“Damn you!” Poe Dameron cried to Kylo Ren’s back, “Damn you, Ben Solo!”

Hux only then noticed Kylo Ren wasn’t wearing his veil.

Another gasp, and the remaining twelve or thirteen _Finalizer_ crew members started whispering among each other.

“It _is_ him! Han Solo’s son!” A young deckhand named Slip whispered to his friend Finn.

Finn frowned and tightened the grip on his musket. “Han solo, the smuggler?”

“No, Ben Solo the traitor! He defected to England yet … Have you seriously never seen the sketches? That scar…?

“Enough!” General Hux yelled, and stepped in between his outraged crew. “I will have order on my ship!” His green eyes lit up fiercely in the light of the few lanterns scattered about the quarter deck. “If I hear as much as one word about Luke Skywalker or Ben Solo again...”

Despite the General’s warnings, the men continued to rage on, and Slip couldn’t help to live up to his name by divulging: “do you know how _high_ the prize on Ben Solo’s head is? Dead, he is worth more to England than two years -”

General Hux grabbed his flintlock from his belt and shot Slip right through the head. Finn let out a horrified sound as his best mate fell lifeless to the floor, and the other crewmen fell completely silent.

“I hope the second bullet will remain a warning.” General Hux made sure to lock eyes with each and every one of his crew member to ensure none of them would dare speak up. At the end of his round, he met Kylo Ren’s shimmering eyes. He knew what the General had just done for him.

A final comment before the General dismissed his crew. “Delivering Kylo Ren to England is an act of high treason. You will remain aboard the ship until Captain Phasma returns. We sail tonight.”


	10. Ambushed

Six days had passed since the search mission had started. Only when the _Finalizer_ was far enough away from Macau’s shore did General Hux convince Commander Snoke to at least lift one tip of the shroud of mysteries surrounding the buccaneers and the incident on deck. He told them they were looking for Skywalker’s sister instead, leader of the pirates, in a covert mission to lessen their influence in the South-Chinese Sea.

After hearing this partial explanation from none other than the Supreme Commander himself, the men finally complied yet continued to complain and back-talk about the situation. Understandable, yet unworkable. Finally, Captain Phasma had managed to settle most of the men down, but she spoke with concern about Finn. Since the incident he had been uncooperative, sullen, and as of today, missing.

“What do you mean, _missing_?” Hux nearly fumed at the mouth.

“He took one of the sloops at night... Knocked down quartermaster Mitaka who stood guard…” Captain Phasma said as she held on to her hat. Today, the winds were blazing harder than ever as September had rolled over into October. Soon, the monsoon season would be upon them.

“I cannot believe this…” the General growled, pocketing his telescope again looking for any sign of a pirate junk. In the search for the alleged map-carrying parrot, General Hux argued the parrot would return to its home on instinct - one of the many junks ashore the tiny islands surrounding Macau, some larger than others but most of them with crudely build huts housing entire pearl-diving families.

The whole ordeal did have one positive outcome, albeit a two-step one. The General noticed very few pirate junks around Macau, which meant they had returned to a common harbor or port somewhere out there. If they would find that port, they would not only be able to capture or kill nearly all pesky pirates, but also the homeward bound parrot.

“Finn cannot navigate these seas alone,” Captain Phasma said, “he will strand on one of the islands soon or die of exposure. Either way, he will not have been able to row back to any noteworthy port to divulge the secret mission.” She made a face at her General.

“I know, Phasma,” Hux said, securing his red feather, “I am also unhappy with the situation at hand, but I believe we are ultimately serving the greater good of the FTC.”

“Are you, General?” Phasma spoke, softer. “Even after the Supreme Commander displayed his black magic on you back at the pavilion?”

Hux squinted his eyes. “I don’t quite follow-”

“I see more than you think, General,” Phasma smiled, then added in a much darker tone, “those who need use force to re-establish their position are not worthy of the loyalty of their men.”

The General did not respond to this presaging comment made by the only person he ever truly and deeply respected, and watched her back as she disappeared below deck again. Of course she was right, and of course she had made many sacrificed to right the General’s wrongs. Yet, shooting one of her men was something she would not easily forgive. Hux made a mental note to double her shares on this mission, be it out of his own pocket.

“General,” Commander Snoke presented himself in a very rare moment of allowing himself to step in the sunlight, “I have been meaning to speak to you.”

“Of course, Commander,” Hux smiled, hoping this conversation would be words only.

“While I admire your enthusiasm in helping us on our mission,” the Supreme Commander spoke, and lit his pipe without offering Hux any of his tobacco, “you should not forget your own. There are still many plaintiffs awaiting our visit, and of course your upcoming engagement.”

“I am aware of that, Commander,” Hux said. If it rains, it pours, he thought while yet again expressing utmost restraint at his superior, “what do you propose?”

“We will scout the area for three more days until we reach Manila,” Snoke puffed, “if we do not find a lead on Dameron’s parrot, I will take my buccaneers on a corvette and sail northeast, to Nagasaki. The _Finalizer_ can restock in Manila, possibly wait out a tropical storm or two and resume the plaintiff endeavor for the remaining two and a half years, as we planned. After that, Deputy Commander Pava will finalize your arrangement with his daughter, maybe even appoint you to the Macau court." He leaned in, and spoke softly: "You will make a fine Governor, General.”

Hux’s heart and face turned to stone. “I understand, Commander.”

“Now… back to Skywalker,” Snoke glossed over this radical change in his General’s life, “we have to be quick. We both know those twelve - pardon, ten it is now I believe, will not remain silent about the Skywalker mission. We do not need any competition in our hunt, as you may understand.”

“Of course, Commander.”

Snoke patted his General on the back. “I admire how you handled the situation last week, yet I also know you’ll be happy to finally be rid of my buccaneers, hah!”  

“Hah… yes, Commander,” Hux gritted. Eight months ago Hux would quite literally kill to be rid of the buccaneers, and grotesquely maim to be held in such high regard by Supreme Commander Snoke. The shooting incident might have tarnished the General’s reputation with the crew, it did do his relationship with Commander Snoke much good. Finally, Snoke seemed to hold the General in higher regard than Kylo Ren, but at the cost of berating Kylo Ren in front of the entire crew for his slow progress and the veil slip-up on deck a week ago.

Ren wasn’t himself with Commander Snoke around on the ship. He was more silent and less confident, yet his moodiness also made him Ren strangely possessive of Hux. He laid claim to Hux night after night yet refused to speak about the incident, or speak of anything beyond pleasurable words at all. He stayed every night until sunrise, and on the last night long enough for Hux to literally drag him out of his bed. And as much as the General enjoyed it, it also pained him greatly. The knots in his heart tightened further as Kylo Ren pulled him close.

“Shut your mind hole, dear...” Kylo Ren sighed the seventh night in a row. His constant presence in the back of Hux’ mind had turned from weird to oddly comfortable in a matter of days. Together they laid in Hux’ bed listening to the rain and winds beating the side of the ship. Monsoon season had truly begun in a mocking mirror image of Hux’ current mood.

“I’m sorry,” Hux mumbled, raking his fingers through Ren’s thick hair, wondering how he deserved all of this, wondering if Ren knew about Snoke’s plans and trying to drag their time together out as long as possible. Hux wondered if he should tell him, or if speaking it out loud would destroy everything - whatever it was - between them for good.

Eventually, it wasn't up to Hux to make that decision.

“If I smell even a tiny whisk of her perfume I’m going to barf,” Kylo Ren suddenly said a little louder than he realized.  

The General jolted away from him. “Don’t do that,” he hissed, offended, “stay the fuck out of my head!”

“Snoke told me,” Kylo Ren said, as if that was any better, “a wise decision, if you ask me. He is a wise man to place you at the Macau court. It means you are valuable to him”

Hux could almost physically feel the buccaneers hatred even before he had met the woman - or maybe this was about Snoke instead? Ren’s jealousy would have left Hux intensely satisfied were it not for the miserable circumstances. You fool, you goddamn fool, Hux seethed, he is taking me away from you and you can’t even see that.

Ren stepped forward interrupting Hux mid-thought, and held him tight by the jaw. He kissed Hux a little too roughly, a little too much grasp of teeth against the lip in a successful attempt to make Hux shut up.

Offended, stunned, the General growled softly and tried to struggle free. Ren lightly shook his head before bringing it very close to Hux, feeling his hot breath sting on his grazed lip.

“You’re mine,” he whispered. “Your hand might belong to someone else, but your heart…” his other hand slid up the General’s thigh, “...and your cock are mine.”

The General averted his green eyes, resisting yet deeply enjoying Ren’s jealousy. “Then lay claim to your prize already,” he panted, pushing his hips against Ren’s hand, “beg me to be yours.”

They kissed more hungrily than before, yet Ren did not answer him. He lowered his General into his white linens and kissed every inch of his bruised neck and collarbones, running his hand over his thighs before pulling the General closer. Hux could only moan silently, digging his nose deeper into Ren’s tousled curls and cursing at himself not to cry like a little bitch.

Suddenly, Ren jolted upright, nearly hitting Hux in the nose.

“They are here…” he spoke, then dashed out of the bed for his clothes. “Get dressed right this instant! Let Phasma sound the alarm!”

“What? What do you mean?” Hux said drowsily.

“The pirates are near. I can sense... _them_ \- ” Before he could offer any explanation beyond the usual ‘that’s just how my powers work, Hux, shut up and enjoy your blowjob,’ he disappeared out the door and onto the deck. When Hux followed minutes later, fully dressed and equipped, his men and the buccaneers had gathered on the ship in the pouring rain, salvaging whatever oil lamp they could.

As Hux looked over the starboard railings, he caught himself thinking meekly - well, we found them. Dozens of pirate junks had surrounded the _Finalizer_ and started lighting their lanterns one by one. The pirates were well-equipped with pistols and curved blades, their clothing a mix-and-match of Chinese brocade and English feathered hats.The pale dots of light bobbed up and down in the restless waves, clunking the wooden junks together to sound an eerie applause. Hux spotted several large hand cannons, hooks, ladders, ropes, the whole commandeering kit deluxe. As more and more lanterns lit up, he noticed some pirates were already climbing up the ship.

“Forty-two junks, General,” quartermaster Mitaka reported. “Eight to ten per ship.”

“Outnumbered four to one,” Hux calculated, and growled softly. “We have no choice but to crush them.”

“Aye, General,” Mitaka trembled.

“A-division marines, secure the railings,” Hux commanded, unsheathing his sword and double-checking the load of his pistols. “B-division musketeers, gather round the masts and fire at will. Gunners, you know what to do.” He walked past his men, who instantly responded to his commands. General Hux seemed pleased as he got up to the poop deck (4), followed by Kylo Ren and his buccaneers who pushed down their veils as not to get soaked by the rain.

“Crew, time to make use of the investment we put in your equipment.”

Captain Phasma saluted General Hux before regrouping her men. General Hux kicked open a lock box atop of the poop deck and got out his custom and dangerously experimental musket. He sat down on one knee, resting the gigantic barrel atop the box and praying the rain would not interfere with the new locking system.

Only one group left to command. “Kylo Ren!”

Ren looked over at him, ratty old bastard sword unsheathed and not at all in the mood to take orders from Hux.

Hux cocked the lock of his musket and grinned wide. “Do not disappoint me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (4) POOP DECK - The highest deck at the back of the ship, and yes, it is indeed called a poop deck... http://www.thepirateking.com/ships/manofwar.htm


	11. The Lie

The fight started as abruptly as the pirates had announced their presence. As soon as the first commandeers climbed over the railings they were hacked down by the FTC’s marines, all equipped with hanger blades and flintlock pistols. After the first row of pirates were pushed back, they reloaded, but for some marines this proved to be a fatal mistake as the small weaponless window allowed for a fast pirate to cut him down quickly and board the ship.

General Hux oversaw the battle as he continued to shoot his musket, careful to keep an eye on the perimeter of the ship as he reloaded. The massive power of the weapon did not displease him but he was better accustomed to pistols, especially as the heavy rain blocked out any advantage he had on distance.

Commander Snoke crawled up the poop deck, soaking wet, hat in his hand and an even more crazed look in his eyes than usual.

“Kylo Ren summoned me from my quarters,” he said, and Hux could only guess he meant telepathically as he had not seen Ren leave the quarter deck. “How did we miss this ambush?”

“Unknown terrain, darkness,” Hux summed up, urging the Commander to take cover behind him. “These are the pirates’ home islands, and there is a possibility our location has been compromised.”

“That marine…” Snoke cursed. “The marine that got away.”

The moment Snoke said this, twenty meters further from him Kylo Ren could feel the presence that bothered him so much. He could nearly grasp it, and as he mawed down another pirate it all clicked.

“They are below us!” he yelled, and two buccaneers instantly pulled open a hatch leading to the lower deck. Some shouting ensued, and suddenly the doors to the lower deck opened.

“Stop them! They are getting away!” Phasma yelled as she saw none other than Finn, nearly unrecognizable without his FTC uniform and hat, alongside a freed yet exhausted Poe Dameron leaning on his shoulder.

Before Kylo Ren could make way to the treacherous marine, the bombs hit. In the turmoil of the battle on the ship the pirates managed to place several firework bombs near the masts, killing the musketeers in the process and now severely compromising the ship's’ integrity. Finn saw his moment and slipped away over the side railings, while Phasma shot at him furiously. “Damnit!” she cursed, and reloaded.

As soon as the smoke started rising, Hux cast his musket away and grabbed his pistols. “Commander, stay close to me. We need to get those damn bombs away.”

Commander Snoke nodded, and soon made it very clear he was absolutely useless in battle despite his powerful mental mumbo-jumbo. Hux made very little progress as he shot down several bomb-carrying pirates, quickly casting their leather pouches overboard.

It was too late.

Kylo Ren had made his way to Hux and Snoke bearing an unsettling message. “Commander,” he panted, “Thannison has lost control of the ship! All the main sail’s rigs have been cut…!”

“Re-tie them! Defend the ship at all cost!” Snoke commanded, yet Kylo Ren did not move one inch. “What are you waiting for, Kylo Ren?”

“Supreme Commander, with all due respect, but this is a lot cause!” Kylo Ren shouted. “We need to abandon ship if we want to live to see another day! If we want to find Skywalker!”

Snoke struck out his hand and pulled Kylo Ren close to him with the same invisible hand he’d used on Hux that day in the pavilion. “You will not disobey me, Ben Solo.” he growled, then cast the man down on the floor in the mixture of dirt and blood.

“Y-yes… Commander...” Ren finally said and got up. He did not even look Hux in the eye as he disappeared into battle again, clutching his bastard sword.

Hux watched Snoke grabbing hold of the mast, desperately trying to keep his balance as the ship suddenly started to slide sidewards. The strong monsoon winds blew against the few sails still rigged, forcing the _Finalizer_ into an unnaturally off-center position. Hux barely managed to hold position.

Commander Snoke finally seemed to get to his senses. “It seems the _Finalizer_ will not hold up against a storm this powerful,” he panted, “vacate immediately. Come, take my arm and carry me to the sloop.”

Hux turned around to Commander Snoke, heart heavy and feet absolutely soaked.

“That is an order,” Snoke gritted, reaching out to Hux with his long white fingers, grasping, clawing even. “An _order_ , General!”

How easy it was for Hux to insult, belittle, mock or aggravate Kylo Ren, yet how unbearable it was for Hux to see another hurt Kylo Ren, _his_ Kylo Ren. Shooting Slip on the deck was an instinctive decision, yet this was a very conscious one. At that moment, looking into those sunken little eyes in that frail little head, Hux decided to lie. For the first time in his long career as a servant of the First Trade Company, or rather the shoulders, feet and heart of the First Trade Company, he lied peremptorily to the all-knowing head with the all-seeing eyes.

“I will come back for you, Commander,” he yelled, “I will get a sloop ready. Hold on!”

“What in heaven’s name are you doing, General?” Snoke panted, holding on to the mast for dear life. “Take me with you at once!” As strong as his power and influence were rumored to be, so weak was his physical form, trembling in the wind and lashing rain. He would not be able to hold on longer than two, three minutes.

General Hux turned his back on him and forced himself to walk away, each step feeling strangely lighter than the one before. As the strong winds tugged at his hat, he threw the damn thing overboard watching the red feather get whisked away into the dark waters beneath him. He could still hear Commander Snoke’s shouts for help, yet he found them easy to ignore.

As he watched the junks disappear into the storm again, Hux continued to search for Kylo Ren - if he was still alive. Please Gods, Hux prayed, let me find him. Even if he is gone, let me carry his body away from this absolute hell.

“Hux!”

“Ren!” Hux nearly slipped on the wet deck as the entire ship started keeling over forty-five degrees starboard, the main yard caught in the waves beneath them. Kylo Ren held on to the railings of the quarterdeck, now dangerously pointing upward. He was bleeding heavily from his shoulder, his face twisted in pain as he tied his veil around his upper arm using his teeth.

Hux felt his gut drop to the floor and crawled up to the railing, securing himself to a rope. He reached out to Kylo Ren who was at the absolute limit of his strength, and pulled him close. Ren was trembling and buried his face in Hux’ neck.

“They got me, Hux...” Ren whimpered, clutching Hux’ shoulder painfully, “those damn pirates got me... and they killed Sari, and Jacob… And old Billy… God damnit...”

The lifeless body of one of the two female buccaneers slid further down the deck as the ship continued to turn to a dangerous angle. Most of the pirates had abandoned the _Finalizer_ already, save for a couple of brave men cutting as many ridges as they could find. Now, they had abandoned ship as well, and only a few poor FTC marines found themselves slipping down the deck as well. Hux did not see Captain Phasma anywhere, which he chose to interpret as a positive sign for now. Mere seconds after the ship reached its full ninety-degree angle, the center mast made a deeply unsettling cracking noise and came loose from the ship, wrecking up three-quarters of the deck. The faint scream Hux heard as the center mast plummeted into the ocean would haunt his nightmares for months.

“Where is Commander Snoke?” Kylo Ren panted, and Hux could not answer him.


	12. The Prize

For what felt like hours they hung from the quarterdeck railings, suspended from the rope tied around Hux’ waist as the _Finalizer_ sank further beneath him. Gunpowder barrels had exploded and set fire to some parts of the ship that were luckily far away from Hux and Ren’s position. The rain continued to pour down mercilessly. Hux closed his eyes against the lashing drops and felt completely drained. If he were to die now, he wasn’t sure he could fight it. Yet, for Kylo Ren’s sake he held on to him until the storm seemed to calm down and the railing neared the water surface.

“Can you swim?” Hux said, his voice raw and his eyes red. Only now he noticed he was crying.

“Does it _look_ like I can swim?” Kylo Ren spat, and lowered himself in the water while still holding on to Hux who cut himself free from the rope.

“There should still be one sloop somewhere,” Hux mumbled, and as he felt Ren’s arm around his shoulder he swam away from the wreckage. His whole body felt numb and heavy, yet he forced himself to keep moving, keep swimming.

He did not remember finding the floating crate and how he managed to pull Ren atop of it, but as the strong currents drove them away from the wreckage, he did remember seeing the FTC flag proudly sticking out of the ocean before being swallowed whole by the waves. As Hux laid down on the crate, feeling Ren’s weak hand clutching his arm, Hux knew he deserved for the ocean to do the same to himself.

The First Trading Company was no more.

 

~

 

“Are we on speaking terms again?”

“No,” Kylo Ren snorted. He’d actually dozed off a bit in a desperate attempt to get some sleep. Finally, after a very long and stubborn tantrum he allowed himself to take refuge in Hux’ mind to calm himself down. The ginger man then huddled up against him, allowing Ren to rest his tired head on his shoulder and his hands deep under Hux’ shirt and coat. Ren never thought it could get so cold during a night on a tropical island. Then again, he’d lost a tremendous amount of blood and was actually not that sure he was still alive or at the bottom of the ocean clutching Hux’ cold corpse.

“Will you let me know?” Hux nearly begged. The sky had turned from a dark black to blue, and the approaching sunrise had woken him early enough to overthink his guilt three or four times. “I can’t stand to see you like this.”

“That is because your mind is weak, Hux,” Kylo said. Despite his agitation, if he were to die in Hux’ arms right now it would give him a rare sort of happiness he never found anywhere else.

“A little more respect for this weak mind that saved your ass,” Hux sneered.

“Don’t take it personally,” Kylo Ren sighed, “most of the people around me… their minds are so brittle and meaningless, Hux.”

Hux genuinely had no answer to that.

“Yet Snoke doesn't - didn't...  Nor the rest of my men’s.” Kylo Ren swallowed. Now the initial rage of the death of his master had worn off, he felt much calmer at the idea of a world without the great Commander. Yet, as he reached out to the ocean he felt his presence still there, lingering, waiting, as it had done during the years leading up to Ren’s inevitable capture. Snoke might be dead, but his influence would linger on for years to come, be it inside the buccaneers or inside his enemies.

“Just tell me why you murdered him.”

Hux rolled his eyes, pushing Ren’s hands away from his back. “Not this again.”

Ren reacted with a sudden irritation that both literally and figuratively pushed Hux away from him. “You refuse to answer my question,” he snapped, mustering a final handful of energy to force himself to stand up and walk away from Hux, back turned to him and the palm tree.

“There is nothing to answer!” Hux yelled before also getting up from the cold sand. He noticed the sky was slowly turning orange and the sun emerged from behind the horizon. “I told you and I will tell you again - we were surrounded by those damn pirates in their junks! The ship was literally falling apart! What should I have done?”

“Something everyone would have done,” Ren turned around and stumbled forward until he faced Hux, “something I would have expected from the First Trade Company's General. You are no better than that traitor Finn, who is, may I remind you, responsible for leading the pirates to us. How could you have _forsaken_ your duty to Commander Snoke, to the FTC!?”

Right then, Hux finally broke. It felt considerably less satisfactory than Ren had imagined.

“Don't speak to me abut my duties to the FTC,” Hux eventually whispered, eyes red and glazed. He reached out to Kylo Ren and held that damn beautiful face in his hands. “You fool. I did it for _me_ . I saved you for _me_.”

Kylo Ren only let out a whimper before relaxing against Hux’ chest. Without his heels, Hux was actually slightly smaller than Ren.

“I owned nothing with the company,” Hux forced through his tears, “not the ships, not the cargo, not its crew. I owned nothing, Ren, not even my own life. So do not berate me for saving the only thing that ever felt mine.”

“I know…  I’m sorry…” Ren closed his eyes and rested his feverish forehead against Hux, not in defeat but in compliance. “I will be yours, Hux,” Ren whispered, “I will.”

Hux smiled, raking his fingers through Ren’s thick hair without taking his eyes off the golden horizon. He secretly blamed Ren for losing Snoke, for allowing Hux to stop overthinking in that crucial moment aboard the _Finalizer_ , for planting whatever seed he carried inside him to spout into Hux’ abandoning of his Commander and his life's work. Yet, even if the General had been able to think straight in the heat of the moment, would he have done it differently?

When he came to that realization, Hux finally took off the wig. Kylo Ren looked up at him as he cast his wig in the fire an untied his bright red hair. It had grown surprisingly long compared to the first time they met, eight months ago, and it cast down over his shoulders.

As the sun rose behind Hux it formed a halo behind his head, setting everything surrounding them ablaze in golden sunlight. On the horizon the faint outline of a trading ship was visible heading right into their direction, ready to be commandeered and serving as a base of operations to rebuild. Those pirates were still out there, let alone the emerald pouch containing the map to Luke Skywalker. Inside Hux’ head, the cogs towards a new plan and a new future were already turning.

Hux knew he did not need to ask Ren to join him, nor did Ren need to answer. He closed his eyes and felt Ren’s lips pressing against him. Hux welcomed his salty kiss, looking forward to scrubbing every piece of salted sea water off his prize.


	13. Epilogue

In the Golden Deer Pavilion, Josephine Pava sat nervously on the bench in the hallway. In her hand she held another scroll with the same orange stamp as the one that lead up to this. The guards had been sent away as this was a private meeting of utmost delicacy, as Josephine bitterly reported to her superiors. 

The door opened and an older woman stepped inside, hair pinned up high in two buns and a stern but warm look on her face. 

“General,” Josephine said and got up to greet her superior, “does this mean everything's going according to plan? 

“It is, Josephine,” the General nodded, “Your sister Jess is on her way to the location we pierced together with your information, and that of Finn. You will meet him soon.” 

“Will we leave tonight? My suitcases are ready in the carriage.” 

“We will leave right now. Your father is in another carriage heading to the north. Within the hour, the  _ Finalizer  _ will be at the bottom of the ocean, the map back in our possession and no trace left of General Hux - ” General Leia seemed to cut that sentence short as she looked outside the window at the endless blue ocean, waiting, hoping. 

“Those were the longest hours of my life,” Josephine sighed, “I cannot wait to wear the orange brocade with pride again. Where are we headed for, General Leia?”

General Leia smiled. “To our base on Deshima, Nagasaki.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT THE PAVA'S.
> 
> Ayooo! Thank you for finishing my Kylux Big Bang fic! I hope you enjoyed it - I am currently writing the sequel, the first chapter of which will be posted in a week or two after the Big Bang has ended. 
> 
> I LOVED writing like this and I really hope you'll stick with me for part two - there will be Rey, and a new villain, and a hotmess!Hux and finally anal sex... hahaha... I am so sick of pirates right now hahaha xDDD


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